A Stunning Display Of Wildflowers Just Bloomed In One Of The Driest Places On Earth

Beyond the North and South Poles, Chile's Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. In any given year, this plateau in northern Chile only gets about 0.6 inches of rain, while some areas get as little as 0.04 inches.

Most of the time it looks like this — dry and arid.

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But after an "intense and unexpected rain," the desert floor erupted with a massive wildflower bloom that's drawing visitors from all over Chile and even farther away to come see the phenomenon that's known as "desierto florido" (flowering desert), the BBC reports.

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While this phenomenon usually happens only every four or five years, this bloom happened just two years after the last time the Atacama Desert erupted in a blanket of wildflowers, when a flash flood brought two inches of rain in just 24 hours back in 2015.

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Over 200 kinds of plants are known to grow in the area and tourism officials told the BBC that they expect more of these species should bloom in the upcoming weeks since they tend to germinate at different times.

Typically, the bloom lasts from September to November so there’s still time to plan a trip this fall.

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In addition to purple, the blooms are also popping up in shades of yellow, white and blue.

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If you do plan on heading to Chile to see this spectacular bloom, just don’t plan on bringing any of them home since the flowers are protected by the government and it’s illegal to pick any of them.

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